Fire
Since the 1960s, the 'let it burn' approach to wildfire has gained wider and wider acceptance. But as fires increasingly come up against the West's phenomenal population growth – and as some scientists warn that a century of aggressive fire fighting has caused an explosive buildup of trees and brush – we're spending billions fighting 'catastrophic' forest fires every year.
Studies also show that warmer temperatures appear to be increasing the duration and intensity of the wildfire season in the western United States. Once again, climate change is a major reason.
Four critical factors—earlier snowmelt, higher summer temperatures, longer fire season, and expanded vulnerable areas of high-elevation forests—are combining to produce the observed increase in wildfire activity.
Studies have shown that the average area burned by wildfires in the West will roughly double by the end of the century. Other general environmental concerns include the fate of threatened and endangered species, many of which are isolated in small islands of old-growth forest habitat. Bigger fires could also accelerate weed invasions, which are already a big threat in the West. Cheatgrass, an invasive exotic species that thrives in burned areas and speeds up the fire cycle by providing more fuel for future fires, would almost certainly gain ground in a more fiery West.
Contingency planning is in order and EcoFlight works with many groups to give them the aerial perspective on this issue.
